Listen to OK OK OK by Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
OK OK OK
Album · MPB · 2018
Veteran Brazilian singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil spent the last two years recovering from cardiorenal failure. So it’s no surprise that his 60th (yes, 60th) album, a sprawling collection of new songs, is both laidback in mood and life-affirming in spirit. At 76, Gil—both an icon of Tropicália and his country’s former Minister of Culture—remains one of the stylistic emperors of the widely encompassing MPB (música popular brasileira) genre, mixing Brazilian beats with soft rock, poetic lyrics and languid reggae vibes. He and pianist João Donato imbue “Uma Coisa Bonitinha” with bossa nova tenderness. “Sol De Maria” shows Gil’s gift for creating gorgeous acoustic textures. And there’s a retro groove to “Quatro Pedacinhos”, dedicated to the female surgeon who removed four small pieces from the singer’s heart. It all makes for a collection as consistently engrossing and excellent as Gil’s masterpieces of the ’70s and ’80s.

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